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Hello, Quartz members, and welcome to Sunday Reads!

Government employees may get pink-slipped, a court blocked the Trump administration from halting a ton of federal spending, Elon Musk went to Deutschland, and China came up with a new cheap AI model that shocked America’s biggest AI players. Oh, and did we mention the 10-hour trade war with Colombia?

5 things we especially liked on Quartz

🧠 The DeepSeek conundrum: How smart was Big Tech’s multi-billion dollar spending on artificial intelligence? As China’s DeepSeek sends shockwaves through Wall Street and Silicon Valley with its cheap yet competitive AI model, Britney Nguyen looks at what’s in store for AI.

🚢 Tariff tiffs: President Donald Trump eked out a political victory after Colombia backed down from a trade war with the U.S., showing the potential benefits of his tariff strategy — at least when the tariffs themselves aren’t actually used. William Gavin looks at where we go from here.

🏪 AI, meet Aisle 3: For retailers, AI’s biggest value may not be in VR shopping or guiding you to just the right tea cozy you never knew you needed. Instead, Big Retail is finding AI transformative as companies streamline their supply chains and demand forecasting. Francisco Velasquez strolls the aisles.

⛓️ New blockchains on the block: Blockchain technology serves as the backbone of the crypto world, providing the underlying infrastructure on which cryptocurrencies function. Various types of blockchain networks exist, each designed for specific use cases, from financial transactions to supply chain management and beyond. A growing number of blockchain startups are driving innovation in the space, offering solutions to real-world problems. Vinamrata Chaturvedi takes us on a tour.

One sneak peek

Whether you live deep in the wilderness or in Midtown Manhattan, the value of having access to nature is undeniable: Green spaces are known to improve physical and mental health, mitigate the impacts of urban heat islands, and fight climate change. Madeline Fitzgerald looks at some of the U.S. cities with the most green space. Visit qz.com on Monday morning for the future of everything.

What we’re watching this week

Tuesday: Google parent Alphabet, Chipotle, Pepsi, and Pfizer all report earnings.
Wednesday: Disney, Merck, Novo Nordisk, and Qualcomm report earnings.
Thursday: Amazon and Eli Lilly report earnings.
Friday: The monthly jobs report.

Thanks for reading! Here’s to the week ahead, and don’t hesitate to reach out with comments, questions, feedback, joy, or a new, even cheaper AI model. Sunday Reads was brought to you by Peter S. Green.

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Sunday Reads: DeepSeek shocks and tariff threats